Norilsk

Norilsk (English) Норильск (Russian)
-  City[1]  -
The first house built in Norilsk, in 1921
Location of Krasnoyarsk Krai in Russia
Norilsk Location of Norilsk in Krasnoyarsk Krai
Coordinates: 69°20′N 88°13′E / 69.333°N 88.217°E / 69.333; 88.217Coordinates: 69°20′N 88°13′E / 69.333°N 88.217°E / 69.333; 88.217
Coat of arms	Flag
Administrative status (as of April 2011)
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Krasnoyarsk Krai[1]
Administratively subordinated to	krai city of Norilsk[1]
Administrative center of	krai city of Norilsk[1]
Municipal status (as of December 2004)
Urban okrug	Norilsk Urban Okrug[2]
Administrative center of	Norilsk Urban Okrug[2]
Statistics
Population (2010 Census)	175,365 inhabitants[3]
- Rank in 2010	102nd
Time zone	KRAT (UTC+08:00)[4]
Founded	1935[citation needed]
City status since	1953[citation needed]
Postal code(s)[5]	663300-663341
Dialing code(s)	+7 3919[citation needed]
Official website
Norilsk on WikiCommons

Norilsk (Russian: Норильск, IPA: [nɐˈrʲilʲsk]) is an industrial city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located between the Yenisei River and the Taymyr Peninsula. Population: 175,365 (2010 Census);^[3] 134,832 (2002 Census);^[6] 174,673 (1989 Census).^[7]

Geography

Norilsk is the world's northernmost city with more than 100,000 inhabitants and the world's second largest city (after Murmansk) inside the Arctic Circle. Norilsk, Yakutsk, and Vorkuta are the only large cities in the continuous permafrost zone. It lies between Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District to the north, and Turukhansky District to the south.

History

False-color satellite image of Norilsk and the surrounding area (more information)

Norilsk was founded at the end of the 1920s, but the official date of founding is traditionally 1935, when Norilsk was expanded as a settlement for the Norilsk mining-metallurgic complex and became the center of the Norillag system of GULAG labor camps.^{[citation needed]} It was granted urban-type settlement status in 1939 and town status in 1953.^{[citation needed]}

Norilsk is located between the West Siberian Plain and Central Siberian Plateau at the foot of the 1,700-meter (5,600 ft) high Putoran Mountains, on some of the largest nickel deposits on Earth. Consequently, mining and smelting ore are the major industries. Norilsk is the center of a region where nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum, palladium, and coal are mined. Mineral deposits in the Siberian Craton had been known for two centuries before Norilsk was founded, but mining began only in 1939, when the buried portions of the Norilsk-Talnakh intrusions were found beneath mountainous terrain.

Talnakh is the major mine/enrichment site now from where an enriched ore emulsion is pumped to Norilsk metallurgy plants.

To support the new city a railway to the port of Dudinka on the Yenisei River was established, first as a narrow-gauge line (winter 1935–36), later as Russian standard gauge (1520 mm) line (in the early 1940s).^[8] From Dudinka enriched nickel and copper are transported to Murmansk by sea then to the Monchegorsk enrichment and smelting plant on the Kola Peninsula, while more precious content goes up the river to Krasnoyarsk. This transportation only takes place during the summer:^{[citation needed]} Dudinka port is closed and dismantled during spring's ice barrier floods of up to 20 meters (66 ft) in late May (a typical spring occurrence on all Siberian rivers).

In the early 1950s, another railway was under construction from the European coal city Vorkuta via the Salekhard/Ob River, and Norilsk got a spacious railway station built in the expectation of train service to Moscow,^[8] but construction stopped after Stalin died.

According to the archives of Norillag, 16,806 prisoners died in Norilsk under the conditions of forced labor, starvation, and intense cold during the existence of the camp (1935–1956).^[9] Fatalities were especially high during the war years of 1942–1944 when food supplies were particularly scarce. Prisoners organised the nonviolent Norilsk uprising in 1953. Unknown but significant numbers of prisoners continued to serve and die in the mines until around 1979. Norilsk-Talknakh continues to be a dangerous mine to work in: according to the mining company, there were 2.4 accidents per thousand workers in 2005.

The mosque of Norilsk, belonging to the local Tatar community, is considered to be the northernmost Muslim prayer house in the world.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with one work settlement, incorporated as the krai city of Norilsk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.^[1] As a municipal division, the krai city of Norilsk is incorporated as Norilsk Urban Okrug.^[2]

Demographics

Economy

MMC Norilsk Nickel, a mining company, is the principal employer in the Norilsk area. Due to the intense mining, the city is one of the ten most polluted cities in the world.^[10]

The city is served by Norilsk Alykel Airport and Norilsk Valek Airfield. There is a freight-only railway, the Norilsk railway between Norilsk and the port Dudinka. There is a road network around Norisk, but no road or railway to the main cities of Russia. Freight transport is by boat on the Arctic Ocean or on the Yenisei River.

Norilsk-Talnakh nickel deposits

The nickel deposits of Norilsk-Talnakh are the largest nickel-copper-palladium deposits in the world. The deposit was formed 250 million years ago during the eruption of the Siberian Traps igneous province (STIP). The STIP erupted over one million cubic kilometers of lava, a large portion of it through a series of flat-lying lava conduits lying below Norilsk and the Talnakh Mountains.

The ore was formed when the erupting magma became saturated in sulfur, forming globules of pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and other sulfides. These sulfides were then "washed" by the continuing torrent of erupting magma, and upgraded their tenor with nickel, copper, platinum, and palladium.

The current resource known for these mineralized intrusion exceeds 1.8 billion tons.^[11] MMC Norilsk Nickel, headquartered in Moscow, is the principal mining operator in Norilsk-Talnakh. The ore is mined underground via several shafts, and a decline.^[12] The ore deposits are currently being extracted at more than 1,200 m (3,900 ft) below ground. The ore deposits are drilled from the surface. Nickel production for 2008 amounted to 299.7 thousand metric tonnes. Copper production for 2008 amounted to 419 thousand metric tonnes.

The deposits are being explored by a Russian government-controlled company. The company is known to be using electromagnetic field geophysics, with loops on surface which are over 1,000 m (3,300 ft) on a side. They are conclusively able to image the conductive nickel ore at depths in excess of 1,800 m (5,900 ft).

Climate

Norilsk has an extremely harsh climate. It is covered with snow for about 250–270 days a year, with snow storms for about 110–130 days. The polar night lasts from December through mid-January, so there is no sun for about six weeks. In summer the sun does not set for more than six weeks. Temperatures are known to rise above +25 °C (77 °F) in July.

Environment

Landscape near Norilsk

Much of the surrounding areas are naturally treeless tundra. Only a few trees exist in Norilsk.

Pollution

Nickel ore is smelted on site at Norilsk. The smelting is directly responsible for severe pollution, generally acid rain and smog. By some estimates, 1 percent of global emissions of sulfur dioxide comes from here.^{[citation needed]} Heavy metal pollution near Norilsk is so severe that mining the surface soil is now economically feasible as a result of acquiring high concentrations of platinum and palladium through pollution.^[13]

The Blacksmith Institute^[10] included Norilsk in its 2007 list of the ten most polluted places on Earth. The list cites air pollution by particulates (including radioisotopes strontium-90, and caesium-137 and metals nickel, copper, cobalt, lead, and selenium) and by gases (such as nitrogen and carbon oxides, sulfur dioxide, phenols, and hydrogen sulfide). The Institute estimates four million tons of cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, arsenic, selenium, and zinc are released into the air every year.^{[citation needed]}

The Russian Federal State Statistics Service named Norilsk the most polluted city in Russia. In 2010, Norilsk produced 1.924 million tons of carbon pollutants, compared to a distant 333 thousand tons of pollutants generated by Russia's second most polluted city Cherepovets.^[14]

According to an April 2007 BBC News report,^[15] Norilsk Nickel accepted responsibility for what had happened to the forests, and insisted they were taking action to cut the pollution. For the period up to 2015–2020 the company expects to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by approximately two-thirds, but admits it is hard to guarantee this pace of reduction because they are still developing the technology. CNN has claimed that there is not a single living tree within 48 km (30 mi) of the nickel smelter Nadezhda ("The Hope").^[16]

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Norilsk is twinned with:

• Minusinsk, Russia

Notable people

• Andrey Bartenev, artist^[17]
• Vladimir Bure, swimmer
• Natalia Yurchenko, gymnast
• Walter Ciszek, Jesuit missionary priest and political prisoner
• Dmitri Torbinski, association football player
• Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Russian political activist and member of the group Pussy Riot

References

Notes

Sources

• Законодательное собрание Красноярского края. Закон №10-4765 от 10 июня 2010 г. «О перечне административно-территориальных единиц и территориальных единиц Красноярского края», в ред. Закона №13-6663 от 1 декабря 2011 г. «Об изменении статуса рабочих посёлков и внесении изменений в Закон края "О перечне административно-территориальных единиц и территориальных единиц Красноярского края"». Вступил в силу 1 июля 2010 г.. Опубликован: "Ведомости высших органов государственной власти Красноярского края", №33(404), 5 июля 2010 г. (Legislative Assembly of Krasnoyarsk Krai. Law #10-4765 of June 10, 2010 On the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Units and the Territorial Units of Krasnoyarsk Krai, as amended by the Law #13-6663 of December 1, 2011 On Changing the Status of the Work Settlements and on Amending the Krai Law "On the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Units and the Territorial Units of Krasnoyarsk Krai". Effective as of July 1, 2010.).
• Законодательное собрание Красноярского края. Закон №12-2697 от 10 декабря 2004 г. «О наделении муниципального образования город Норильск статусом городского округа». Вступил в силу через десять дней после официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Ведомости высших органов государственной власти Красноярского края", №34, 19 декабря 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of Krasnoyarsk Krai. Law #12-2697 of December 10, 2004 On Granting Urban Okrug Status to the Municipal Formation of the City of Norilsk. Effective as of the day ten days after the official publication.).
• "Norilskaya golgofa" "Memorial", regional Branch "Siberia", publisher: "Klaretianum", Krasnoyarsk, 2002 (Russian)

External links

• Official website of Norilsk (Russian)
• MMC Norilsk Nickel
• Norilsk portal
• "Noril'sk, Northeast Siberia". NASA Earth Observatory. Retrieved 2006-05-01. 

v t e Administrative divisions of Krasnoyarsk Krai Administrative center: Krasnoyarsk Cities and towns Achinsk Bogotol Borodino Divnogorsk Dudinka Igarka Ilansky Kansk Krasnoyarsk Lesosibirsk Minusinsk Nazarovo Norilsk Sharypovo Sosnovoborsk Uyar Uzhur Yeniseysk Zaozyorny Zelenogorsk* Zheleznogorsk* Urban-type settlements Balakhta Beryozovka Bolshaya Irba Bolshaya Murta Chibizhek Dikson Dubinino Goryachegorsk Insha Kedrovy Koshurnikovo Kozulka Krasnokamensk Kuragino Motygino Nizhny Ingash Nizhnyaya Poyma Novochernorechensky Pamyati 13 Bortsov Podgorny Podtyosovo Pokanayevka Predivinsk Razdolinsk Sayansky Severo-Yeniseysky Shushenskoye Snezhnogorsk Solnechny** Strelka Svetlogorsk Teya Tinskoy Ural Yemelyanovo Yuzhno-Yeniseysky Zelyony Bor Administrative districts Abansky Achinsky Balakhtinsky Beryozovsky Birilyussky Bogotolsky Boguchansky Bolshemurtinsky Bolsheuluysky Dzerzhinsky Evenkiysky Idrinsky Ilansky Irbeysky Kansky Karatuzsky Kazachinsky Kezhemsky Kozulsky Krasnoturansky Kuraginsky Mansky Minusinsky Motyginsky Nazarovsky Nizhneingashsky Novosyolovsky Partizansky Pirovsky Rybinsky Sayansky Severo-Yeniseysky Sharypovsky Shushensky Sukhobuzimsky Taseyevsky Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky Turukhansky Tyukhtetsky Uyarsky Uzhursky Yemelyanovsky Yeniseysky Yermakovsky *Closed cities and towns under the federal governance **Closed urban-type settlements under the federal governance

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